Men's Basketball | 10/10/2023 4:28:00 PM
October 10, 2023-Emporia State fans can tip–off basketball season with the Hornets and Lady Hornets on Monday, October 16 during Late Night at White.
The doors to White Auditorium will open at 6:30 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m. the lights in the arena will go down and a spot light will help introduce the 2023-24 Hornets and Lady Hornets.
After introductions there will be several games on the court including a three-point contest, musical chairs with fans and a dunk contest before the teams take the court for a pair of intra-squad scrimmages.
Last year both the Emporia State men and women finished in the top 15 in attendance in the nation with the Hornet men ranking eighth and the Lady Hornets 13th out of over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools.
The Hornet men went 23-9 last season with a 15-7 record in MIAA play. It was the second straight 20 win season for Emporia State and the first time the Hornets have had back to back 20 win seasons since a three year stretch from 1987-90. Four starters, who all earned some type of All-MIAA recognition, and a total of seven letterwinners return for the Hornets. First-Team All-MIAA performer
Owen Long led the Association in scoring in MIAA only games while
Alijah Comithier, who earned Third-Team All-MIAA honors, was in the top 15 of the conference in scoring and rebounding last year.
Peyton Rogers-Schmidt was named to the All-Defensive Team after ranking fourth in the MIAA in blocked shots and 13
th in defensive rebounds. Honorable Mention All-MIAA guard
Kaden Evans was fifth in the MIAA in steals and in the top 20 of three pointers made last year. Emporia State was also ranked #1 in the nation among men's basketball teams in community service in the Helper Helper national team rankings.
The first outside competition for the Hornet men will be on November 1 when they take on Kansas State in exhibition action at Bramlage Coliseum. Emporia State will open the season on November 4-5 at the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. They open the home portion of their season on November 10 against Arkansas Tech as part of the MIAA-GAC Challenge in White Auditorium.
The Lady Hornets return two starters from last year's team that went 14-15 last year and will be under the direction of first year coach Brian Ostermann.
Faith Paramore is the leading returning scorer for Emporia State at 8.4 points per game while
Katie Horyna chipped in 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. They did get a jump start on the season with a ten day trip to Italy in August. Six different Lady Hornets scored in double figures for a game during the trip with
Stevie Stinchcomb scoring a trip high 19 points in a 95-36 win over Via Dell'Arcadia. Paramore pulled down 18 rebounds in the win as well. Emporia State is the only program in NCAA Division II history to lead the nation in attendance (2005), win a national championship (2010), and be honored with the top GPA in the nation (2017) in the WBCA Academic Top 25 list.
The Emporia State women will open the season at home against Henderson State on November 10 in the MIAA-GAC Challenge in White Auditorium.
